International

First Wave Energy Turbine to be Installed in AustraliaOceanlinx Ltd. (Macquarie Park, Australia) is set to launch a 1-megawatt wave energy converter, the greenWAVE, off the coast of Port MacDonnell, reported Border Watch. It can supply electricity to about 1,000 households. The cost of the project was around $7 million.

Although it is possible to use computer-controlled (or autopilot) tugs, it is preferable to have the tug masters themselves control the tugs. This brings a degree of realism to simulations. With 270 degrees of projected visual scenery and a large TV screen for the view astern, the task simulators show the tug captain the same view he has from his own tugboat. This includes a good view abeam, which is a great help in estimating the tug speed.

Alphatron Marine Introduces Large-Screen Bridge
The three-screen bridge is designed for one-man bridge operation for application at Coast Guard vessels, crew suppliers, patrol boats and piracy defense vessels, as well as high-end offshore vessels and workboats. The Alphatron Marine (Rotterdam, Netherlands) AlphaPremiumBridge makes use of the JRC MFD multifunction navigation system. By integration of various systems into one concept, control and display modes are available by operating the Alphatron MFS controller supporting touch-screen operation, as well as by using an analog intelligent knob.

Ricardo Leads Project to Improve
Offshore Wind Turbine Reliability
The OWDIn (Offshore Wind Drivetrain Innovation) project, led by Ricardo (Shoreham-by-Sea, England), takes a broad, drivetrain approach to improving reliability through the development of subsystems that will be applicable to a wide range of different drivetrain architectures.

The project will see the Ricardo MultiLife wind turbine bearing the management system for gearbox planet bearings, deployed at a ScottishPower Renewables wind farm location that experiences aggressive wind conditions. A test bench environment has already demonstrated the system's potential to extend bearing life by in the region by 500 percent.

IAEA Sending Marine Monitoring Experts to JapanThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will send experts on marine monitoring to Japan in preparation for an IAEA-led international peer review mission on the decommissioning of TEPCO's (Tokyo, Japan) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Two IAEA experts from Marine Environment Laboratories in Monaco will observe seawater sampling and data analysis in Fukushima and meet authorities in Tokyo to collect detailed information about the marine monitoring conducted by Japan under its Sea Area Monitoring Plan.

Phase I of the project is expected to run for six months and cost around Australian $250,000 and involve four regional oil and gas operators.

Due to an uneven seabed, tidal currents or scouring, some pipelines may develop free spans. A free span on a pipeline is where the seabed sediments have been eroded or scoured away and the pipeline is no longer supported on the seabed.

HATLAPA will be integrated into MacGregor's existing operating structure, and its results will be consolidated into MacGregor's financial figures as of November 2013. HATLAPA's sales contribution to MacGregor from closing for the remainder of the year is expected to be approximately €20 million.

Enhanced capacity on Eutelsat's E36B will provide improved services and bandwidth for Astrium Services customers operating in the Mediterranean and Middle East, in addition to the area north of Norway and Russia. New Ku-band capacity on SES's AMC-21 satellite will provide more comprehensive coverage over the U.S.

Pingtan Marine Enterprise
To Sell Dredging Operating Subsidiary Pingtan Marine Enterprise Ltd. (Fuzhou, China) announced that the independent members of the company's board of directors have agreed to sell Pingtan's dredging subsidiary, China Dredging Group (Fuzhou), and its subsidiaries operating in China. The board received appraisal reports from BMI Appraisals Ltd. for the respective operating rights and licenses to conduct fishing services of 20 new vessels, which are included as part of the transaction consideration. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2013.

Moxa Becomes Member of
Comite International Radio-MaritimeMoxa (New Taipei City, Taiwan) is now a member of the international association for marine electronics companies, Comite International Radio-Maritime, which has been promoting marine electronics for efficient shipping and the safety of life at sea for 75 years.

Comite International Radio-Maritime was originally founded in Spain in 1928 by eight companies engaged in the application of radio to the maritime service.

New Strategic Sector for France
To develop the technology required to fight attacks, the Committee for the Security Industrial Sector (FIS) will have an industrial executive arm, the Conseil des Industries de Confiance et de Sécurité (CICS), created by industry professionals. The sector's industry groups, including GICAN, representing the naval and maritime industry, are the preferred government partners for developing and deploying the new sector that is now part of the 12 major French industrial sectors.

Third PSV, World Pearl, DeliveredDamen Shipyards Galati (Galati, Romania) has handed over the third platform supply vessel (PSV) in a series of six to World Wide Supply (Fosnavåg, Norway). World Pearl is built to Damen's new PSV 3300 design. The first of the Class PSV 3300, World Diamond, was delivered in July. With an 80.1-meter length, the PSV 3300 has a deck load of 1,500 tonnes.

UTEC Geomarine Announces Fieldwork CampaignsUTEC Geomarine (Ponteland, England) completed a series of geotechnical survey campaigns, which included several deployments of new technologies.

A program was performed using UTEC Geomarine's ROV-deployed geoROV CPT and sampling system. A total of 111 cone penetration tests, 44 cyclic T-bars and 32 high-quality push samples at test locations were investigated.

Bluestream Boosts Fleet of ROVsBluestream (Den Helder, Netherlands) has taken delivery of the third of four ROVs ordered from Saab Seaeye (Fareham, England) in the last 12 months.Their new 2,000-meter-rated Cougar XT is the second of this model to be added to the 11-strong ROV fleet.

Bluestream's model comes with cameras, sonar, a five-function manipulator and a hydraulic disk cutter. A detachable bare skid is also supplied for tooling options.

Aquamarine Power Gathers Real-Time Wave DataAquamarine Power (Edinburgh, Scotland) is now gathering real-time wave data at their Oyster 800 test site, which is helping the firm produce more accurate energy forecasts and drive the design of their future Oyster 801 machine. The data are being gathered by two devices, an acoustic Doppler current profiler and an acoustic wave and current profiler.

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